Airplane wing construction



` Filed sept. 15, 1937 2 sheets-sheet l Filed Sept. 13, 1937 2-Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 28, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WINGCONSTRUCTION Joseph Potoczek, Chicago, Ill.

Application september .13, 1937, Serial No 163,703 8 Claims. (Cl.244943) The present invention relates to airplanes Fie. .3 is a planView with parte broken away and particularly to an improved wingconstrucillustrating the Wing operating mechanism. tion therefor. Thedrawings illustrate the invention sche- An object of the invention is toprovide an v matically and ,it will be understood that the ulimprovedwing construction whereby the effectimate design of details may bemodified to contive'wing area may be materially increased durform toaccepted aerodynamic practice. ing flight. Referring now moreparticularly to the de- In the past, many proposals have been made tailsof construction of the invention, indidealing with means of increasingthe wing area cates the body portion or fuselage of an airplane. lli ofairplanes under control o f the pilot. In such The fuselage may be ofconventional construc- 1.o prior devices the auxiliary wing surface wastion, having the usual motor mounted in the either raised above orsuspended below the main nose 6 Afor driving the propeller l. wing sothat the expected added lifting force 'I-'he sustaining surface of theairplane is prowas not realized due tothe blanketing effect of vided bytwo Wing members and 9 which are li the uppermost wing member onthe'lower wing nlmaly nested vIQge-lel' With JBhe Wing 9 Supel- 1.5member. imposed en the wing 8 to provide a single wing. It is an objectof thev present invention to The wing member 8 which is rigidi-y securedto provide a wing construction involving vertically the fuselage inapproved manner iS in reality the and laterally separable wing elementswhich norauxiliary wing when the two wings are sepamally form the singlewing element of a mono.- rated- 2,0 plane but which may be separatedunder control The Wlrlg member 9A-1s larger than `the Wing of the pilotso as to increase the effective liftmember 8 and 1S prvovlded 'Wlth aCavlty m m ing area of the Wing. its under surface into which the wingmember It is also an Object to provide such a Wing 8 its when the wingsare in normal nested rela.- construction in which the movable wing mema;Sflvgn m 53u11 llnfs mfF1g-d1 atrlld tals? 2.5 ber is moved to aposition which will cause a ca'vl'y, 1S 'o a ep o' Jus so as o reducethe endency to nose over 3., making a @arrestare attrarre.-

K' m'clg orjleitsg outehveteoirlixillgtilioialerealized by lan by a'pmrlty of locking bolts H which providing a movable wing element whichis 'are heldin projected position by Springs I2' The mounted on asuitable linka e :ne h 4iIV belts H are Carried by the wine member 8 andth g c an sm so engage in detents 1 3 in the walls of the cavity f at 1tmay be sh1fted. upwardly and forwardin the Wing *9' As many of theselocking bolts 35 1y 'f'.l 9m its nrmal pognon le'avmg xpqsed an areprovided as desired to securely lock the two Y auxlhafyvstatlorary Wmgmember Whlch 1S nor' wings together, there being several along bothmau-Y housed Wlthm @Cavity-1 the under sur tneleading'and traningedge efthe Wing s. The .factof 'the .movable Img membe@ By mount locking boltsare retracted when desired by flexlng he mam mOVabe Wlng member for bothible draw members I4 which extend between the 40 49 upward and forwardmovement, it will be shifted bolts and a rock shaftv |5 which isjournaued clear of the auxiliary Wing so as not to blanket Within th in3 and thus detract from the Alifting effect of the {hel-egt' 'hi rgoekgftexltenidss `olretilt/clin 2311i latter. handle I6 or may be motordriven if desired. It Other ObJeeS and .adVan'ageS 0f the nVellwill beseen that upon turning the rock shaft, 45

tion will ,become apparent upon reference te the the flexible drawmembers I4 win be wound following detailed description and theaecompathereon to retract the bolts Il against the tennying drawingsillustrating a preferred embodi- 5mn of the Springs I2- ment of theinvention. Y The member Sis mounted on a plurality of L50 In the.drawlrigs struts or links l1 and I8. The struts l1 are piv- 5.0

Fig. .l 1S a Slde eleVatlOll With parte ,in SeC- otally connected attheir upper ends to the wing Y tion illustrating an embodiment A0I" theinvention, 9 adjacent the trailing edge thereof. A pre- 2 is a detailsectional View illustrating the ferred way of effecting this connectionis to promeans of fastening the wing sections together, vide a rod l 9which is mounted within the wing and y9 .and which extendslongitudinally thereof adl55 jacent the trailing edge of the wing, thisrod extending through openings in the upper ends of the struts I1.

The lower ends of the struts I1 are rigidly mounted. on a squared shaft2|]r which is journalled in the frame members 2| and 2| of the rigidwing 8 adjacent the leading edge thereof.

The struts or links I8, of which there are preferably two in number, arepivoted at their upper ends to the wing 9 adjacent the leading edgethereof as indicated in Fig. l. The connection of the struts I8 to thewing 9 is likewise effected by a rod 23 mounted in the winglongitudinally thereof adjacent the leading edge and passing throughopenings in the upper ends of the struts I 8.

The lower ends of the struts I8 are rigidly mounted on a squared shaft24 which is journalled inthevfuselage forwardly of the rigid wing 8 andspaced from the bar 2i) a -distance equal to the spacing of the rods I9and 23 so that the struts I1 and I8 form a parallel linkage mechanismwhich will retain the -wing sections 8 and 9 always in parallel relationregardless of the respective positions which they may occupy.

Although there may be any number of struts or links I1 provided asdesired, I prefer to use four, placing one on each side of the fuselageand one adjacent each en-d of the rigid wing 8. As stated above, thereare preferably only two forward struts I 8, placed one on each side ofthe fuselage since it is impractical to extend the shaft 24 very farbeyond the fuselage. For the purpose of bracing the leading edge of theupper wing 9 when in elevated position, two folding end braces 25 areprovided, one adjacent each end of the rigid wing 8. One arm of each ofthe braces 25 is journalled on the rock shaft 20, the free end of theother arm being journalled on the rod 23. The braces 25, in addition tosupplementing the struts I8, serve to limit the forward movement of thewing 9. Suitable channels are provided in the wing members toaccommodate the meinbers I1, I8 and 25 when the wings are in nestedrelation. 'I'he channels may be provided in any suitable manner as byomitting the wing covering between the frame members 2|.

The linkage for elevating the Wing 9 is operated by a hand lever 21which turns a ratchet wheel 28 through the medium of a dog 29. Theratchet wheel 28 is journalled on a pivot 36 in the floor of thefuselage and a link 3| is connected thereto by means of crank pin 32.The link 3| is pivotally connected at 33 to the lower end of a lever 34which is mounted on a stationary pivot 35 mounted in the fuselage. Theupper end of the lever 34 is connected by a link 35 to a crank arm 31which is rigidly secured to the squared shaft 20. A drag link 38connects the crank arm 31 and a crank arm 39 rigidly carried by thesquared shaft 24 so that the shafts 20 and 24 will be caused to turn inunison.

From the foregoing, the operation is believed to be obvious but will bebriefly stated. When, due to motor failure or any other reason, it isdesired to increase the Wing area, the lever I6 is moved to rock theshaft I and retract the bolts I. The lever 21 is then pulled to theright as viewed in Fig. l. This will result in simultaneous rotation ofthe squared shafts 29 and 2li in a counter-clockwise direction so as toswing the struts I1 and I8 to an upright position thus elevating thewing member 9 and exposing wing member 8. Movement of the lever 21 inthe opposite direction will result in retraction of the wing 9 to fullline position.

When the wing 9 is moved to elevated position, it is to be noted that itoccupies a position forwardly offset from the rigid wing 8 so that itdoes not produce a blanketing effect which would result if it weredirectly above the lower wing. It is further to be noted that the wing 9assumes a position over the nose of the fuselage, thereby effecting ashift in the center of gravity of the plane when in flight and reducingthe possibility of the ship going into a nose dive if the engine isdead. Thus, .due to the ample wing area and position of the wing 9 whenelevated, forced landings may be made with comparative ease and safety.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed for purposes of illustration, it is to be understood thatvarious modifications and changes in the details of construction may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention withinthe scope of the appended claims.

IA claim:

1. In an airplane, a fuselage, a pair of nested wing members normallyforming a single wing unit, one of said wing members being rigidlysecured to said fuselage, the other of said wing members being linked tosaid fuselage at a point forwardly of the leading edge of said rigidlymounted wing member and shiftable to a position above and out ofregistry with the rigidly mounted member.

2. In an airplane, a fuselage, a stationary wing member secured to saidfuselage, a movable wing member normally disposed in nested relationupon said stationary wing member, and a parallel linkage mechanism forswinging said movable wing member to a projected position spaced aboveand forwardly out of registry with said stationary wing member, saidparallel linkage mechanism including a pair of link members connected attheir upper ends to said movable wing member and at their lower ends tosaid fuselage at a point in advance of the leading edge of saidstationary wing member.

3. In an airplane, a fuselage, a stationary wing member, a movable wingmember, and a parallel linkage connection between said movable wing andsaid stationary wing and between said movable wing and said fuselage,said linkage mechanism comprising front and rear link members, the rearlink members being connected at their lower ends to the stationary wingadjacent the leading edge thereof and at their upper ends to the movablewing adjacent the trailing edge thereof and the front link members beingconnected at their Tower ends to the fuselage at a point forwardly ofthe stationary wing and at their upper ends to the movable wing.

4. In an airplane, a fuselage, a stationary wing member, a movable wingmember normally disposed in nested relation over said stationary Wingmember to form a single wing unit, a rock shaft mounted in thestationary wing member adjacent the leading edge thereof, a second rockshaft mounted transversely on said fuselage spaced forwardly of saidstationary wing, link members carried by said first mentioned rock shaftand pivotally connected to said movable wing member adjacent thetrailing edge thereof, link members carried by the second mentioned rockshaft and pivotally connected to said movable wing member forwardly ofthe first mentioned link members, and means for rocking said shafts inunison to raise said movable wing on said links to a position spacedabove and forwardly of said stationary wing member.

5. In an airplane, a fuselage, a stationary wing member mounted on saidfuselage, a movable wing member having a recess in its under face forhousing said stationary wing member, and means for moving said movablewing member to and from nested relation with said stationary wing to aposition spaced above and forwardly of the latter comprising a parallellinkage connection between said movable wing and said stationary wingand between said movable wing and said fuselage, said linkage mechanismcomprising front and rear link members, the rear link members beingconnected at their lower ends to the stationary wing adjacent theleading edge thereof, and at their upper ends to the movable wingadjacent the trailing edge thereof and the front link members beingconnected at their lower ends to the fuselage at a point forwardly ofthe stationary wing and at their upper ends to the movable wing.

6. In an airplane, a fuselage, a stationary wing member, a movable Wingmember, a parallel linkage connection between said movable wing and saidstationary wing and between said movable wing and said fuselage, saidlinkage mechanism comprising front and rear link members, the rear linkmembers being connected at their lower ends to the stationary wingadjacent the leading edge thereof, and at their upper ends to themovable wing adjacent the trailing edge thereof and the front linkmembers being connected at their lower ends to the fuselage at a pointforwardly of the stationary wing and at their upper ends to the movablewing, and manually releasable means independent of said linkagemechanism for locking said wing members in nested relation.

'7. In an airplane, a fuselage, a stationary wing member, a movable wingmember normally disposed in nested relation over said stationary wingmember to form a single wing unit, a rock shaft mounted in thestationary wing member adjacent the leading edge thereof, a second rockshaft mounted transversely on said fuselage spaced forwardly of saidstationary wing, link members carried by said first mentioned rock shaftand pivotally connected to said movable wing member adjacent thetrailing edge thereof, link members carried by the second mentioned rockshaft and pivotally connected to said movable wing member, and means forrocking said shafts in unison to raise said movable wing on said linksto a position spaced above and forwardly of said stationary wing member,and manually releasable means independent of said linkage mechanism forlocking said wing members in nested relation.

8. In an airplane, a fuselage, a stationary wing member mounted on saidfuselage, a movable wing member having a recess in its under face forhousing said stationary wing member, means for moving said movable wingmember to and from nested relation with said stationary wing to aposition spaced above and forwardly of the latter comprising a parallellinkage connection between said movable wing and said stationary Wingand between said movable Wing and said fuselage, said linkage mechanismcomprising front and rear link members, the rear link members beingconnected at their lower ends to the stationary wing adjacent theleading edge thereof, and at their upper ends to the movable wingadjacent the trailing edge thereof and the front link members beingconnected at their lower and upper ends to the fuselage at a pointforwardly of the stationary wing and to the movable wing respectively,and manually releasable means independent of said linkage mechanism forlocking said wing members in nested relation.

JOSEPH POTOCZEK.

